Keep Your Donors

Tom Ahern is recognized as one of North America's leading authorities on how to make nonprofit communications consistently effective. He speaks frequently in the United States and Canada on reader psychology, direct mail principles, good (and not very good) graphic design as applied to fundraising and nonprofit branding. He is president of Ahern Communications, Ink, a consultancy specializing in capital campaign materials and other nonprofit communications. Tom's popular e-news provides tips on donor communications. He wrote the first book on donor newsletters, published in 2005, as well as How to Write Fundraising Materials That Raise More Money.Simone P. Joyaux, ACFRE, is recognized internationally as a "thought leader" in the philanthropic sector. An expert in fund development, board and organizational development, and strategic planning, Simone is the author of Strategic Fund Development: Building Profitable Relationships That Last. This book has become an industry standard. Simone presents all over the world and is a faculty member in the Master's Program in Philanthropy and Development at Saint Mary's University, Minnesota. She serves regularly on boards, is the founder of the Women's Fund of Rhode Island, and is the former Chair of CFRE International.

• Preface xxiiiAcknowledgments xxvChapter 1 Beginning at the Beginning: The Context for Everything Else 1Why the Larger Context Matters 1Philosophical Framework 2This I Believe 3Building Community 3Building Community Redux 7Effective Organizations 8Key Components of Effective Organizations 8Effective Fund Development 9In Conclusion 10INTERMEZZO #1 Why? 11Chapter 2 The Red Pants Factor: A Story about the Power of Questioning 13Finding Your Own ‘‘Red Pants Factor’’ 15A Postscript from Black Dress 15INTERMEZZO #2 What Do All the Words Mean? 17Chapter 3 Key Components of Effective Organizations: Part of the Larger Context for This Work 19Adopt an Organizational Development Approach 19Limitations of Technical Fundraising 20Turning You into an Organizational Development Specialist 21What the Organizational Development Specialist Needs to Know 22Build a Culture of Philanthropy 23Concept of Corporate Culture 23Culture of Philanthropy 24Meaningful Questions 25Personal and Organizational Commitment to Conversation and Questioning, Learning and Change 27Learning Organization Theory 27Systems Thinking, the Cornerstone of Learning Organizations 28Conversation at Work 29This Is Hard Work 33Value of Research—Your Own and That of Others 33Collecting Data from Your Organization 35Translating Data into Useful Information 35Qualified Opinions Only, Please! 36A Curious Conundrum 36Corollary of the Curious Conundrum 37In Conclusion 38Chapter 4 What Relationships Are and Why We Have Them: The Art of Human Interaction 41Relationships Are Everything 41A Radical Notion 43Relationships Require Choice 43Types of Relationships in the Nonprofit/NGO Sector 44Your Philanthropic Relationships: How Your Organization Relates to Its Donors of Time and Money 44Relationships with Other Organizations: How Your Organization Relates to Other Community Organizations 44Relationships within Your Organization: How the Various Parts of Your Organization Relate 45Advocacy and Public Policy Relationships: How Your Organization Promotes Public Policy that Fosters Healthy Communities 45Relationships Are Definitely Not Transactions 46Do Donors Really Want Relationships? 47Watch a Good Relationship Builder 48Key Concepts in Relationship Building 48Sincerity 49Closeness and Boundaries 50Diversity and Cultural Competence 51Values 53Dynamism and Change 54In Conclusion 54Appendix 4A Values and Mission of the Equity Action Fund at The Rhode Island Foundation 59Chapter 5 Five Rather Deadly Sins: Warnings about Relationships and Solicitation 61Sin #1: Separating Fund Development from Philanthropy 61Sin #2: Treating Giving as a Financial Transaction Rather than an Emotional Act 62Are You Treating Your Donors like Automatic Teller Machines? 63Sin #3: Trespassing on Personal and Professional relationships. Please Promise that You Won’t! 64How Do Your Board Members Feel? 65But Lots of Organizations Do This and We Need the Money! 65Sin #4: Universalizing Your Own Passion. Instead, Find Theirs—or Leave Them Alone and Move On! 66Sin #5: Asking Prematurely 67More Visibility Does Not Produce More Gifts 67Ensuring Visibility with Your Prospects and Donors 69Don’t Solicit Unless You Know that The Person Knows Your Organization 69Not Sins but Certainly Worries 70Are You Worried about Donor Fatigue? 70Are You Worried about All That Competition for the Same Donors? 71In Conclusion 72INTERMEZZO #3 Direct Mail and Relationship Building 73Chapter 6 Eight Steps to Develop and Nurture Relationships: It’s What I’m Buying that Counts 75Developing Your Relationship-Building Program 77Steps in Relationship Building 77Step #1: Identify the Predisposed 78Step #2: Get to Know the Predisposed 78Step #3: Understand Their Interests and 78Disinterests, Their Emotions, and Their Motivations and Aspirations 79Step #4: Identify What You Have in Common and Define the Mutually Beneficial Exchange 80Step #5: Nurture the Relationship to Develop Commitment 80Step #6: Evaluate Interest and Readiness for the Request 81Step #7: Ask and Thank 83Step # 8: Monitor Progress and Measure Results 85In Conclusion 85Appendix 6A Evaluating Prospect Interest, Readiness, and Capacity and Designing the Ask 86Chapter 7 Identify the Predisposed: Finding New Prospects for Your Organization 89Who Are the Predisposed? 89Introducing the Concept 89But What If They Are Reluctant? 90Fund Development Professionals Help Organizations Identify the Predisposed 91Collect and Analyze Public Lists 91Listen to Your Friends and Colleagues 92Host Cultivation Gatherings 93Creating Opportunities for People to Self-Identify as Predisposed 94How the Women’s Fund Uses These Four Steps 95Building Relationships (and Identifying the Predisposed) at the Apple Store 97In Conclusion 98Appendix 7A Learning about People Through Conversation 99Chapter 8 Understanding the Fundamentals of Marketing and Communications: The Right Message to the Right Person at the Right Time 103Communications: For Many, It’s All They Know of You 103Fund Development Is a Type of Marketing, and Uses the Same Methods 104It’s Not What You’re Selling, It’s What They’re Buying 107Targeting: How You Find Needles in a Haystack 109Segmentation: How You Increase Penetration Of A Target Market 112Frequency and Reach 113What Is Branding? 116In Conclusion 118Chapter 9 Emotions: The Decision Makers 119Introduction 119Orbitofrontal Damage and Its Implications for Fundraisers 120Emotional Triggers: An Introduction 121Up to 135 Triggers to Choose From 122Emotional Twinsets: Raise the Problem, Be the Solution 125In Conclusion 128Appendix 9A W. Gerrod Parrott’s List of Emotions 130Chapter 10 Relationship Building: Details about Steps #3 and #5: Getting to Know You 133Step #3 in the Relationship-Building Process 133Getting Started 134Keep Going! 136What Kind of Information Do You Want to Know? 136A Few Strategies for Getting to Know Your Donors and Prospects 137A Reminder about Step # 4 140Step #5: Nurture the Relationship to Development Commitment 140Role of Customer Service 140Some Preliminary Thoughts about Cultivation 141Creating Opportunities for Connection 143Ways of Making Emotions Tangible and Expressing Feelings 144Cultivation as a Community-Building Process 144Ideas for Nurturing Relationships 145Using Incentives to Nurture Relationships 151Using an Individual to Cultivate a Particular Relationship 151Debrief after Cultivation 152In Conclusion 152Appendix 10A Building Relationships with Your Constitutents 154Appendix 10B Member Survey of the Audubon Society of Rhode Island 162Appendix 10C E-Mail Survey from the Audubon Society of Rhode Island 168Appendix 10D Women’s Fund of Rhode Island Marking Milestones Brochure 170Chapter 11 Creating Your Relationship-Building Plan: Write It Down 173Good Process Produces the Best Results 174Plan Practicalities 174A Different Approach 175In Conclusion 176Chapter 12 Planning Donor Communications: Staying in Touch 177Introduction 177Writing a Plan 178Building an Annual Donor/Media Communications Calendar on the Schwartz Plan 179In Conclusion 185Chapter 13 Characteristics of Effective Communications: How the Sausage Gets Made 187Action is the Objective. Reading Is Optional 187An Honest-to-Goodness Secret to Success: Write a Creative Brief First 189There’s an Onslaught, and You’re Part of the Problem 190You’re Selling Feelings, Especially Hope 190You’re Selling a Feeling of Importance, Too 190Interest Me (or Else) 191How to Interest Donors and Prospects: The Big Four 193How to Interest Anyone: Four Chances to Win 195Self-Interest: Why Greed Is Good (For Your Organization) 198Make Offers 199Passing the ‘‘You’’ Test 200Don’t Talk So Much about What You Do. Talk about Why It Matters 201Have Themes 201You’ve Heard of ‘‘Values Voters’’? Meet ‘‘Values Givers’’ 202In Conclusion 203INTERMEZZO #4 What’s the Role of a Fundraiser? 205Chapter 14 Are You Really Donor-Centered? Are Your Donors Truly Loyal? Why Building a Better Mousetrap Doesn’t Work Unless Your Donors Are Mice 207Some Facts about Donor Retention 208Donor-Centrism: The New Old Thing 209Acquisition Is Easy. Retention Is Tough 209‘‘Donor-Centric’’ Is Another Way of Saying ‘‘Building Trust’’ 210Why Donor-Centered? Shouldn’t Mission Be at the Center? 211Simple Demands of Donor-Centricity 212Donor Loyalty and Donor-Centrism: Inextricably Linked 212What Is Loyalty? 214Passive Loyalty 214Active Loyalty 215Lifetime Value 216Are Donors Loyal to Your Organization or to the Cause You Represent? 216Current Donors Come First 217Helping Your Donors Dream 218It’s Relationship Building, It’s Not Education 218Engaging Donors with a Targeted Gift 220Acquiring a New Donor 221You’re Invading Their Privacy 222Many Nonprofits Cannot Afford Bulk Direct Mail Acquisition Anyway 222Create an Exclusive Program to Bond with First-Time Donors 223Your Organization Can Speak Out—But Does It? 225In Conclusion 226Chapter 15 Telling a Story: Then What Happened? 229Why Tell Stories? 229What Is a Story? 230Fundraising Stories Report Results, without Lingering on Your Inner Workings 231Anecdotes versus Statistics: Which Are Better? 232Handling the Trophy Statistic 234Use Statistics like a Spear 235Have Themes, Then Tell Stories that Illustrate Those Themes 235What Makes a Story Work? Sensory Detail 237In Conclusion 239Chapter 16 Communications and Social Styles: Did You See What I Mean? 241Everything but the Words 241What Does ‘‘Social Style’’ Mean? 243Assertiveness and Responsiveness Come First 243Assertiveness: Measuring How Others See You as You Try to Influence Their Thoughts and Actions 244Responsiveness: Measuring How Others See You as You Express Your Feelings 244What’s Your Social Style? 246Are You Comfortable? Are Others? 247Are You Versatile? 248A Few Caveats 248In Conclusion 249Chapter 17 Conversation Nurtures Relationships: Asking Questions to Learn More 251A Quick Aside: Questions Related to Solicitation 252Purpose of This Conversation 252Honoring Conversation 253Active Listening 254Listening . . . Sort Of 254Observing 255Genuine Inquisitiveness 256Starting a Conversation: Why Talking about the Weather Is Good 256What Is Important to Those in Your Relationships? 257Here’s a Framework That Might Help You Discern What’s Important 258Your Donors and Your Mission 260Ask Your Donors Why 260Ask Questions about Your Organization Specifically 261Ask Questions about Your Cause 261Ask About Their Giving Habits 262Find Out Their Values and Beliefs 262Conversation with Donors at the Rhode Island Foundation 263In Conclusion 265Chapter 18 The Case for Support: Why Should Anyone Give You Money? 267Introduction 267Preliminary Steps 268A Good Case Is, at Heart, an Inspiring Tale 268What Kinds of Information to Collect? A Checklist 271Building a Case in a Single Meeting 276Why Does Your Organization Do What It Does? 277What Have You Accomplished? 277Why Is Your Organization the Best Organization to Do This Work? 277What Do You Do? 278How Do You Hold Yourself Accountable? 278Who Are Your Target Audiences? 278Which Emotional Triggers Would Move Your Target Audience(s) to Act? 279Going from A to B: Answering Three Basic Questions 279Why Us? 280Why Now? 280Why You? 280Types of Case Statements 280Internal Case 280Feasibility, Planning, or Draft Case 285Public Case 285In Conclusion 287Appendix 18A Thoughts about Creating a Case for Support 289Appendix 18B Housatonic Youth Service Bureau: (Established by Six Concerned Communities in 1991) 294Appendix 18C Volunteers in Providence Schools: Case Statement for Operations 297Appendix 18D Audubon Society of RI: Internal Case for Donor Support 302Appendix 18E Talking Points: HousingWorks RI 2006 313Chapter 19 The Donor Newsletter: How You Cultivate (i.e., Retain) Donors 321Introduction 321What the Research Says about Donor Newsletters 322What Do Donors Want from Your Newsletter? 323Seven Common Flaws that Undermine Donor Newsletters: A Checklist 326Flaw #1: Doesn’t Deliver News that Donors Care About 326Flaw #2: Doesn’t Put the Donor Center Stage 327Flaw #3: Isn’t Very Friendly 327Flaw #4: Skimps on Emotional Triggers 328Flaw #5: Doesn’t Tell Stories 328Flaw #6: Expects People to Read in Depth 328Flaw #7: Doesn’t Have Real Headlines 328The Flaw You Fix First: Headlines 329How to Find the Story Behind the Headline 330Electrons or Paper? High-Performance E-Mailed Newsletters 332Your E-Newsletter’s Subject Line Makes All the Difference 335Electrons and Paper: Other Advantages of E-Newsletters 336E-Newsletters Must Be Opt-in (A Good Idea for Everything, Really) 338Fast, Easy, Still on Paper: The ‘‘Newsyletter’’ 339Simplicity Itself: A Proven Formula for a Donor Newsyletter 340In Conclusion 341Appendix 19A Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket Newsletter 342Appendix 19B Example 1: Women’s Fund of Rhode Island Newsyletter 346Appendix 19C Example 2: Women’s Fund of Rhode Island Newsyletter 348Chapter 20 The Web Site Home Page: Click. Search. Do. Read? Not So Much 351Why Web Sites Are Completely Different 351Is Your Home Page Ready for Newcomers? 352Getting Off on the Right Foot: The Importance of a Tagline 353What Must Be on the Home Page, Krug Says 354In Conclusion 355Chapter 21 Tips for Writing: Think First. Write Later 357Introduction 357Your Fifth-Grade Teacher Was Right: Outline 358An Easy Way to Outline: Ask Yourself Questions First 358Know the Point of Your Story and Start There 361Write about Benefits, Not Features 362Write Less 363Write for Speedy Reading 364Beginning with a History Lesson, and Other Common Flaws 366In Conclusion 368Chapter 22 Readability: Visual Aspects of Good Communications 369Welcome, Browsers! 369How We Look 371From Gutenberg to Wheildon 371Anatomy of a Failed Annual Report 373In Conclusion 376Chapter 23 Monitoring Progress and Measuring Results: How Effective Are Your Communications? 377‘‘Is It Working?’’ How to Measure Your Results 377Measuring the Unmeasurable 381Get Your Thoughts in Order Before You Begin to Write: A Checklist 382Evaluating Your Donor Newsletter: Eight Tests 384Measuring the Effectiveness of Public Relations 388Standards for E-Mail Solicitations 389In Conclusion 390Chapter 24 Monitoring Progress and Measuring Results: How Good Is Your Relationship-Building Program? 393Why Evaluation Matters 395Deciding What to Measure 396Measuring Performance and Evaluating Results 397A Practical Example 398A Suggestion for Measuring Some of Your Qualitative Results 399Analyzing and Interpreting Evaluation Results 400Communicating Evaluation Results 401Possible Performance Measures for Relationship Building 401From the Prospect/Donor Perspective 402What You Do to Nurture Relationships 403Charitable Giving Measures that Reflect Donor Loyalty 404Monitoring Progress 404In Conclusion 405INTERMEZZO #5 You and Your Organization: Sprinting into the Future 407Chapter 25 Coda: Philanthropy’s Moral Dilemma 409Politics of Power in Philanthropy 410Moral Dilemma Facing Philanthropy 410Power, the Silent Haunting 411Privilege, the Driving Nature of Power 411Understanding the Two Types of Philanthropy 412Tradition Dominates 415Have You Noticed: The Less Social Justice We Have, the More Philanthropy We Need? 416We Are Complicit 416Philanthropy as a Democraticizing Act 418Attacking the Moral Dilemma 418In Conclusion 420Appendix 25A Questions about Privilege and Power 422AppendicesA. Joyaux’s Concept of Enabling Functions, Skills, and Attitudes 425B. Basic Principles of Fund Development 427Resources 431Index 435